( 14 )
Graſhopper.
If you wake Laws t’ eclips my purer light,
And rob my Sons, of what’s their native Right,
The fault’s not theirs, ’tis you incur the blame,
The Cunning’s on their ſide, on yours the Shame.
Why not by Birth, and Chriſtian Knowledge free
To Riches, Honour, and Authoritie?
Why muſt theſe Worldly Comforts reſt in you;
Or your Sons count all Pow’r and Place their due?
Why may not mine as well aſſiſt the State,
And in as great attempts, prove fortunate?
If you ſuch Laws procure, ſuch Pow’r poſſess,
As prove a hind’rance to our happineſs,
How can you juſtly blame us, to evade,
And leap o’er all the ſtumbling-blocks you’ve laid?
If you ſuch bars to our Preferments make,
As Oaths, and Sacraments, for your own Int’reſt ſake,
It is no crime in us, the ſame to Break, or Take.
If you attempt, thro’ Pride, to keep us low,
And we, thro’ Cunning, your deſigns o’erthrow,
Call it not Cozening Heaven, but Out-witting you.
Dragon.
No Laws can ſuch looſe Principles reſtrain,
No force can bind you, but a Golden Chain.
Int’reſt I find, is the prevailing tye,
Makes you Approve, Conform, Diſſent, Deny,
Oppoſe the Right, or the Wrong Juſtifie.
Int’reſt, from me firſt made you Seperate,
And become Rival to the Church, and State.
